Del Arte Reims Neuvillette - Bétheny

We are not normally keen on Italian restaurants other than in Italy, but we were staying in the nearby hotel, we had been driving for most of the day and the restaurant was dog friendly. The food was reasonable, it was not as good as real Italian food but it was fine. The wine and beers likewise. I’d have given just 3 points if the review was based on the food alone, but the staff were really good and very attentive. I also left my glasses in the restaurant and went in past at lunchtime the next day to pick them up. No problems and the restaurant was very busy with families, so I guess it has a good reputation locally. I had thought that it was quite expensive for Italian food but that was until we ventured into the town centre the next day, wow! You need to be rich to eat out a lot in Reims centre! I’d certainly not search this restaurant out, but it is a good choice if staying at the nearby hotel.

Staying in Betheny, we didn 't want to drive into the city centre as it was raining heavily. This chain restaurant came up in a search and was conveniently located. The premises were clean, modern and spacious. Think Pizza Express, Bella Italia etc. It was relatively quiet so the clients were directed to one end of the restaurant. Only two waitresses were serving and seemed to be a bit stretched. Ours wasn 't particularly friendly. Despite being French speakers she didn 't engage with us, was brusque and merely took our order. We had to remind her to bring a carafe of water that we 'd requested at the time of ordering. Two pizzas were sampled, one Moroccan with spicy sausage the other with tuna. The pizza base was quite thick, which we prefer, but the tuna pizza had a lot of topping which made the whole thing rather soggy. Apart from having an egg cracked onto it, the Moroccan one was nicer. The waitress didn 't come to ask if everything was ok with our meal. If you turn to the back of the menu booklet you 'll find two formules which include drinks. By ordering these we had our wine included for just under 11€ so we thought that the price was reasonable.

Our first post-covid 19 meal in France and initial impressions were good. Masks were compulsory and insisted upon, tables widely spaced although to be fair the restaurant wasn't very busy. No one took our contact details or our temperature as we might have expected in the UK. We ordered the formule, one was to be a cold starter and pizza, the other pizza and dessert. It took a while for the starter to arrive then an age for the empty plate to be collected after prompting the waitress, who was scurrying all over the place. Two chefs couldn't keep up with the orders and we waited well over half an hour for the pizzas which the manager himself had to cook. The person who didn't have a starter was beyond hungry by the time they arrived! Sadly the pizza dough wasn't fully cooked and the whole meal was another disappointment. The dessert was cancelled due to the late hour. The manager explained that the lunchtime shift hadn't prepared for the evening service and that they were short staffed that evening, just two waitresses, two chefs leaving himself running the bar and assisting in the kitchen. You could appreciate his efforts but it's a chain restaurant and it's unlikely that individual managers have much control. He apologised for the poor experience and a discount was offered and accepted.

It was a Tuesday evening, so not overwhelmed by the number of customers in the lasagna we were looking for meat in the tomato sauce, they serve with a salad and there we are looking for the vinaigrette the ravioli with the osso bucco were cold, so all this has changed well, it’s not how they will find their customers

Friendly restaurant, welcoming staff, correct cuisine.